behind the scenes of emubeads- beautiful and unique with a social conscience

the artist

handmade-northern-rivers-glass-bead-artist-emubeads-making-jewelry
at the creek, #iamtheplanet
photo by #janetaylorimage


emubeads workshop

red emubeads in abacus
choose from abacus of emubeads

17 years ago

i discovered lamp work beads while searching for unusual glass beads for my jewellery designs.

i was disappointed by the generic, readily available, machine-made glass beads which didn’t compliment my designs.

one thing led to another ….

and my first 7 handmade beads were made on a butane torch, i was mesmerised. captivated by the glowing, viscous glass and the possibility of designing all my own beads, i was hooked, ‘ultimate control’, or so I thought. 

My first necklace… 

made with 47 glass beads on the butane torch was the beginning of emubeads’ designs. during this early time of learning, i’d have to keep going back to the torch to make more beads. barely waiting for them to cool in the vermiculite bath, i’d thread them up –not enough– making more until i completed the necklace.

within a few weeks, I had upgraded from a butane torch to a lamp work torch. the vermiculite bath has since been replaced with a tetlow kiln. The kiln anneals the beads overnight, regulating the cooling process and reducing glass stress and spontaneous cracks.

emubeads’ evolution is a process of discovery through practice: layering, shaping, texturing, mixing glass and additions of recycled metal inclusions. in this world of waste production, repurposing potential waste, sandwiched between layers of glass feels positive.

art in the everyday
#emubeadsareart

the slow, artisan made product combined with our own silversmithing components makes wearable emubeads jewellery.


emubeads
artisan glass beads